Gas tubes and other gas-discharge devices have been used extensively in the prior art. In a typical type of arrangement, a relaxation oscillator may be used for timing or flashing purposes, which includes a gas tube connected across a capacitor which is connected through a resistance to a DC voltage supply, the capacitor being charged through the resistor until the voltage across it and across the gas tube is sufficient to cause conduction of the tube and discharge of the capacitor therethrough, initiating another timing cycle.
Gas-discharge devices have also been provided having within a common envelope a large number of separate regions in which discharges may be produced. For example, flat-panel displays have been used including crossing groups of parallel busses supplied with scanning signals to control discharges at crossing points. In another arrangement, opposed charge-storage dielectric members are backed by electrode members, the dielectric members being operative to prevent the passage of substantial conductive current from the conductor members to a gaseous medium.
There are many other arrangements and disclosures in the prior art which might conceivably be considered pertinent, and it would be impossible to identify them all herein. However, it is noted that a basic text is "Gaseous Conductors" by James Dillon Cobine, originally published by McGraw-Hill Book Company in 1941, republished with corrections by Dover Publications, Inc. in 1958. U.S. Patents of possible interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,790,849; 3,829,734; 3,967,157; 3,952,223; 4,010,395; 4,028,578; 4,037,130; 4,039,881; 4,085,350; 4,085,351; 4,090,110; 4,099,082; 4,100,447; 4,109,176; 4,114,064; 4,121,129; 4,126,807; and 4,130,777.
Many of the prior-art arrangements have been very expensive to manufacture and/or require complex circuitry. They have been advantageous only for the applications for which they have been designed, and there has been no recognition that there might be other applications for the arrangements or portions thereof. There has also been no recognition of phenomena which may take place during the operation of the prior-art arrangements and which might be used to advantage under appropriate conditions.